EDT 629 Blog Post #4: Online Learning Critque

I have only had two online classes but I thought that both were quite effective (they were taught by the same professor). For me personally, I learn better when I see things instead of just listening to them so I always preferred reading articles over listening to podcasts. When I apply my experience to an online learning environment that I create, I plan on using recorded video instead of podcasts. This is mostly due to the nature of the subject I teach but I know there are students who will benefit from seeing me while I discuss content instead of seeing a blank screen.

One thing that I enjoy about an online class is that I can skip over the items that I do not think are as helpful to me. For example, I already have experience with moodle, and the school that I teach at has no plans to implement it, so instead of using my time to experiment with moodle I chose to focus on other items for the class that week. I plan on incorporating this into my online class; giving the students more choice about their actual activities instead of just a choice of how long to spend on each item.

I wish that I had more diverse online experiences before writing this blog and look forward to seeing how other professors teach an online class.

EDT 629 Blog Entry #3: Final Project

For my project in this class I plan on creating an introductory unit for incoming 6^th graders that could be taken the summer before attending 6^th grade. For the project for this class I plan on focusing on one or two units, with the intention of adding additional units later. My class will be entirely online using a Google Site (in the future I hope to turn it into a hybrid class where students would meet once a week in person). I plan on incorporating videos, podcasts, and online tutorials. The students will only be assessed formatively for now using online assessments. As the class is expanded, summative assessments may be given in order to allow students to ‘test out’ of 6^th grade math and begin their year one grade level ahead in math. I also plan on using discussion boards where students can ask and answer questions on a peer-to-peer level. I would like these discussions to be mandatory in the future – I would require a certain number of posts before attending the in-person class sessions or before being allowed to take a summative assessment for a particular unit. 

EDT 629 Post #2: Online Teaching Goals

At this point in my teaching career I have not attempted to implement online teaching. I have a website that I use as an online reference for my students, but have not attempted to put part, or all, of a class online. While I don’t anticipate putting an entire class online in the near future, I would like to give my students an online experience with a certain unit. One of the reasons that I do not have an online class currently is lack of support from the school. If I ask to try something online I know I would be encouraged to go for it, but there is no push to try something new in this way. I would probably be the only teacher doing something like this.

In the near future, I hope to put together an online summer class to prepare students for our 6^th grade math course. We have a lot of new students who are overwhelmed when they enter middle school. There are a lot parents who ask what they can do to alleviate some of this stress, and I think I could use an online course to introduce students to the type of mathematics class they will have. I plan on using a Google Site (I am familiar with Google’s tools and all of my students would have access to it) to give them a preview of what to expect and to review some topics they should already know. I plan to have several units on the site with video lessons, surveys to get a feel for their understanding of the content, and a schedule so the students learn how to meet deadlines. I envision it being a preview of the content but also the expectations at my school. 

Blogging in my Classroom (629)

This entry is about blogging in the classroom. I am relatively new to the whole experience of blogging but I will discuss what a blog in my classroom might look like realistically. I loved the sample with video and pictures of daily activities in the classroom but I do not think that would work in a secondary class or at least not in my class in particular. I know that I could use a blog instead of my website if I ever decide to change my mind.

Currently, I envision creating an announcements blog and attaching a link to this blog to my current site. It would be directed mostly at my students and parents to keep them up-to-date with materials and due dates. I currently use my website to do this but I know that the blog has the advantage of allowing others to easily respond to me and to each other.

I cannot think of one particular lesson that would be enhanced by a blog but that is only because I think there are other tools that could be utilized to get the same result. Instead of posting a video on my blog, I could post it to the website that is already created and established. The same goes for the interactive tools that I use in class and the supplemental material I want the students to have access to. I think that this leads to my biggest barrier with blogging; I can think of other ways to post the material and interact with the students and parents. These ways are also more convenient to me so I plan on sticking with them for now.

First Post

First post for EDT 629! More to follow....